Ashcroft Bill Ill-Conceived, Critics Argue

Ashcroft Bill Ill-Conceived, Critics Argue

Article excerpt

Most American leaders would like to see China clean up its
behavior at home and abroad. So why is a bill co-sponsored by Sen.
John Ashcroft, R-Mo., intended to make China do just that in such
trouble?

The short answer, say critics, is that the bill is poorly timed
and poorly conceived.

Harsh sanctions provided by the proposed China Policy Act of
1997 could disrupt the meeting Oct. 28 in Washington of Chinese
President Jiang Zemin and President Bill Clinton, says Stanley
Roth, assistant secretary of state of East Asian and Pacific
affairs.
"Were the bill to pass, it clearly would lead to a major
deterioration in our relations with China and jeopardize any
progress that might be made at the summit," Roth told the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee last week.
The committee chairman, Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., opened the
hearing by declaring that Clinton's administration was "soft on
China" and said U.S. China policy amounted to appeasement.
Most other committee members disagreed. …

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